For
some months past passengers on the California street line have watched with
unusual interest the gradual approach to completion of a structure on the corner
of California and Taylor streets—an interest arising from the more than ordinary
departure from the rut of conventionality, out of which San Francisco is
gradually emerging. Perhaps no recently built residence has called out so much
comment and controversy; but as the unfamiliar style developed itself and the
embryotic promise became rounded to well-balanced completeness in plan and
ornamentation, conflicting opinions have finally merged in a unanimous verdict
that Mr. Towne has contributed to the artistic homes of San Francisco one worthy
to rank as a chef d’oeuvre, not only in novelty of design but in perfection of
detail and striking, though severe, taste and elegance.

The aim of the architect, Mr. A. Page Brown, was to unite simplicity of design
with variety of detail, while strictly preserving the unities and avoiding all
incongruity. The general style is old colonial, the details being a modification
of the classic Greek and Roman. The material used is Roman brick in the lower
stories and weather boarding on the upper story, the general tone of the
exterior being a light corn color with cornice and details of cream white, the
roof being laid in cedar shingles of a silvery grey shade. The original design
contemplated the use of Roman brick throughout, but the more effective
treatment, as now carried out, was finally determined upon.

The house is in extent 61 feet frontage on California street by 54 feet on
Taylor. Viewed from the front it gives but a very inadequate indication of the
spaciousness and roominess within. The two stories in front expand to four full
stories in the rear, all being, through the peculiar conformation of the
surface, entered directly from the level of the ground, and the lower rooms
being as light, airy and with the same sunny exposure as the upper ones. Only
two specific directions were given to the architect by Mr. Towne, one being that
every living and sleeping room, whether for family, guests or servants, should
have the full flood of sunshine; and the second that, as far as possible,
nothing but native woods and marbles should be used in the construction. Both
orders have been carried out to the letter.

The principal exterior decoration is the frieze and the faces of the dormer
windows. The design is the eagle, with garlands and wreaths. The portico of
highly polished California marble is worthy of special mention, not only for its
intrinsic beauty, but from the fact that it is the first work of the kind ever
executed of native material, as well as probably the finest in detail. The
columns and balcony are of grey marble from Colton, Cal., and was furnished by
the California Marble and Building Stone Co. The same company furnished the
beautiful green marble which forms the rich wainscoting of the interior of the
portico. This vividly tinted green variety comes from near Mojave, Cal., and has
thus far never been produced in so large a quantity. Its evident adaptability to
ornamental purposes, however, will no doubt create a demand which will cause it
to be sought and found more extensively.

The first floor has been made as near as possible on a level with the California
street sidewalk. A wall of Roman brick surrounds the grounds, which are
overlooked by the rear windows, from which can be obtained an unobstructed view
of city and bay, with the Mission hills and the Coast Range in the distance.

Entering the vestibule through the classic marble portico and heavy mahogany
doors, we find ourselves under an exquisitely molded dome in blue and gold. From
this point we obtain a view of the main hall, which, with the broad staircase
and spacious landing, is intended as the central feature of the house. A large
fireplace, built of blood-red Numidian marble, and large enough to burn four
feet logs, enriches one side of the hall, while the jeweled staircase window on
the wide landing gives light above and below. The delicate tints of the dome are
reproduced in the upper and lower ceilings, while the spirit of the interior
decoration—that of the Italian Renaissance—appears in the smallest detail of
hall and staircase, pervading, though with less strictness of purpose, the
entire house. Both the stairs and high wainscoting are of quartered oak, and the
walls are covered with leather richly illuminated with gold.

All the rooms on the first floor are arranged en suite. At the left of the
entrance is the drawing room, whose exquisitely delicate finish is not to be
broken in upon by overloading, only three small but fine pictures—a Henner, a
Coornans and a Lambrecht—being admitted. This lively apartment is finished in
white and gold, with delicate French silk panels. The white is laid on in
repeated coats to what is known as “carriage finish,” as polished and almost as
hard as ivory. A richly carved mantel extends to the ceiling. A striking example
of the prevailing harmony is found in the fact that the delicate festoons on the
frieze of the white walls are reproduced in the silver fender of the fireplace
and even in the border of the carpet. The onyx of the chimney was brought from
San Luis Obispo. The room is lighted by sconces of old silver, fitted to either
electric or gas lights, the wires and appliances for both extending through the
building.

The dinning room has a wainscot as high as the doors and mantels made of
quartered oak, and the ceiling is of the same wood with arabesque panels of the
color of burnt wood, giving by the simplest means an effect rarely seen in
decoration. A rich frieze of tooled Venetian leather, chairs similarly covered
with leather of an old Spanish design, the gas fixtures in antique brass, and
other decorations, were all specially designed for this apartment, and
illustrate the harmony which characterizes every room of this artistic home. A
beautiful feature is a fireplace in the green marble referred to, the architect
having used only pieces of rarest coloring and exceptional beauty. Another
object of equal elegance and convenience is a massive sideboard built in a
recess, forming a part of and flush with the finish of the room.

The library and the living room adjoining are wainscoted alike in curly
California redwood, the satiny finish and wonderful grain giving the effect of
richly watered silk, while the walls and ceilings are in similar coloring
enlivened with gold.

The upper rooms are well worth an equally minute description did not space
forbid. Each sleeping apartment has its own bathroom, elegantly appointed and
fitted with instantaneous water heaters. In fact, the details of this ideal
residence which strike most forcibly the eye of the home-lover, are those which
have been the special care of the two ladies whose home it is to be. The large
linen-presses, the private staircases, the exquisitely neat and convenient
contrivances and appliances for every kind of domestic work are a triumph in
housing designing and are, in great part, the outcome of the ladies’ own
forethought and that domestic home-feeling which no money can buy and no
architect can build into a dwelling.

The servants have not been forgotten, their tired feet being saved by
dumb-waiters (extending even to the chambers, in case of sickness), shoots for
soiled linen, a sewing machine run by water-power, etc. The side entrance and
staircase by which party guests may reach the dressing rooms to remove their
wraps and adjust their toilets before traversing the grand staircase, is a
charming and original design. A playroom in the attic for the little pet of the
household, a boy of eight years, contains among other appliances a small stage
with curtain and all necessary dramatic appointments. The Durham system of
plumbing and house drainage is employed and the sanitations practically perfect.

To enumerate half the striking details is, however, impossible, but the one
thing which will most forcibly strike even the sightseeing visitor is the
house-like atmosphere which pervades and lends a rarer charm to every luxury and
elegance of architecture or furnishing, and which carries with it the conviction
that here is a home, and not a mere dwelling place.